Appendix: Linux /dev/random

Why does /dev/random block?

The NSA-designed SHA-1 was not fully "trusted"

The blocking behaviour is a defence against this untrusted DRBG

Ted T'so, 2015 “… the
paranoiacs were *right* that the NSA had introduced a back-door into a
crypto algorithm which they gifted to the civilian world. It just
turned out to be DUAL-EC instead of SHA-1.”

Just use /dev/urandom :-)

What's the difference between /dev/random and /dev/urandom?

These are fundamentally the same :-)

“/dev/urandom doesn't block; /dev/random does”

They will behave identically with sufficient entropy

Use /dev/urandom

Use /dev/urandom

Use /dev/urandom

How does OneRNG help /dev/random?

Even though you should use /dev/urandom, not all your legacy code does

OneRNG helps to avoid the need to block

Therefore systems that use /dev/randomrun faster?

Appendix:PRNG Problems

Middle Square

First documented by Franciscan Brother Edvin in around 1240-1250 CE

Re-discovered by John von Neumann, published in 1949

"Any one who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin."